Introduction

In early 2013 we reviewed the Fujinon XR 18-55mm f/2.8-4 OIS with quite impressive results. Small, relatively fast, a very decent performance and not even overly expensive. However, over the course of the year Fuji opened up the system towards more budget-oriented users. Rather than releasing the usual 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit zoom lens, they decided to go a little wider with the Fujinon XC 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS. While the lens is usually sold as part of a camera-lens kit, it is also available separately for about 400EUR/US$. This high price may feel a little surprising since most kit lenses sell for much less actually. The price difference towards the higher grade XR 18-55mm f/2.8-4 OIS is also not overly pronounced so let's see in how far it is capable of touching its performance.

In terms of build quality the Fujinon XC 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS is a rather typical kit zoom lens - the lens body is made of plastics down to the lens mount. That being said, the zoom and focus control rings operate smoothly and without wobbling. The lens extends significantly when zooming out but fortunately the inner lens tube remains tight even at the longest setting. Unlike Fuji's "XR" lenses, it is member of the lower grade "XC" series so you have to live without a dedicated aperture ring. The aperture is set using the back dial on the camera which actually follows the philosophy of most other mirrorless systems.

The lens has an internal AF micro-motor which operates basically noiseless during AF operations. The AF speed is Ok but better forget about AF tracking - at least with pre X-E2 cameras. Manual focusing works "by wire" thus by triggering the AF motor. We can't really state that we were thrilled by the accuracy of the implemented variant. Regarding the new OIS (optical image stabilizer) Fuji claims an efficiency of up to 4 f-stops. This may be true for lab conditions but an efficiency of 2, maybe 3 f-stops seems more realistic. Honestly, I preferred to disable the OIS during the field trips because the results were just more consistent for whatever reason.